Geopolitics and psychology rule oil markets: There are many lessons to be learnt from trading crude in the past decade | February 12, 2026 | Matein Khalid

"The egos and realpolitik of an American president, a Russian dictator and a Saudi crown prince have proved more important than any econometric model or Wall Street bank forecast."

"Is this the subliminal message behind the 30 percent rise in gold and the surreal 65 percent increase in silver in January? Which asset is truly a safe haven in a world gone mad?"

"While 100 million barrels may cross borders daily via tankers and pipelines, the marginal price of black gold is determined by leveraged speculators trading 1.5 to 2 billion barrels per day through oil futures, options, swaps and over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts."

"I have often thought that Sigmund Freud’s insights on death wishes and herd instinct are far more relevant than International Energy Agency pronouncements."